Without fear, with determination and a lot of self-sufficiency, Carlos Alcaraz entered the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1000 after beating Marin Cilic by a double 6-4 (in 1h 35m).
The 18-year-old Murcian once again resolved another demanding crossroads with aplomb and if against Marton Fucsovics he put the direct in the premiere on Saturday, liquidated in 81 minutes, against the Croatian he once again offered another show of hunger, reliability and control to win the appointment this Tuesday (not before 1.00, #Vamos) with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-4 and 6-3 to Alex de Miñaur).
Paula Badosa progressed hand in hand, implacable against the young Linda Fruhvirtova (6-2 and 6-3) and who will run into Jessica Pegula (Anhelina Kalinina's withdrawal) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz confirmed everything he has been proposing in recent weeks.
Beyond Rafael Nadal, who managed to put a stop to it in a duel that led the Balearic to the limit and cracked his ribs, it is hard to imagine right now the player who can stop him this week.
With a background of 14 wins and only two defeats throughout this first quarter of 2022, and having made an exponential leap in the game, the boy from Palmar bursts in as one of the great favorites in a scenario where last year he gave way in the first round.
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It was against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, then 83rd in the world.
Today the story is very different.
Alcaraz is 16th and in his tennis there are many traces of the
top-10
.
Cilic can attest to that.
The Croatian, 33 years old and champion of the US Open in 2014, succumbed to the overwhelming proposal of the Spaniard, damaging with the right or backhand, exquisite in the drop shot;
always with the knife between his teeth and with the idea of playing a trick on the veteran.
He quickly got the first
break
, the third game, and when he saw the giant stagger he knocked him down.
Badosa returns a backhand during the match against Fruhvirtova. ERIK S. LESSER (EFE)
Already among the top 16 in the Florida tournament, the young man continues to stand out and grow like wildfire.
He is the seventh best player of the year and in addition to winning the Rio de Janeiro trophy (ATP 500) he begins to convey the feeling that he is a very difficult wall to overcome.
He had previously crossed paths with Cilic once.
It was in Estoril, land, last year;
nothing to do with today, in this vertiginous present in which Alcaraz steps on and on the accelerator, without looking back and accelerating in search of a greater impact.
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Carlos Alcaraz crosses another border
In other results, the Valencian Pedro Martínez fell against Daniil Medvedev (6-3 and 6-4) and Roberto Bautista could not with the American
Jenson Brooksby (6-3, 5-7 and 6-4).
The Russian was therefore only two wins away from regaining number one.
Although Paula Badosa no longer aspires to him in the women's circuit, awarded to the Polish Iga Swiatek (6-3 and 6-1 to Coco Gauff), the Catalan continues to show that today she is one of the strongest.
She overcame a tough matchup with 16-year-old Fruvhvirtova and will have a day off to recover from the physical problems she suffered during the match.
The Czech came from separating Danka Kovinic, Elise Mertens and Victoria Azarenka, but she had no choice;
she was not granted by the Spanish, already virtual number three.
She now has an unprecedented duel with Pegula (21st), who advanced thanks to the abandonment of Kalinina when she had already clearly decided (6-0) the first set.
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